


in hope we trust

by catpoop



Series: Sheith Month 2018 [11]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Universe, Established Relationship, Flashbacks, M/M, Post-S6, Sharing a Bed, Sleepy Conversations, let the boys recuperate, soft talking...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-10 01:47:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15280890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catpoop/pseuds/catpoop
Summary: Sheith Month '18 - 13/7: Happy EndingNothing is certain, but there's one thing Shiro can hope for - that they'll have their happy ending





	in hope we trust

**Author's Note:**

> *madly scrambles to write + post this on the morning of the 14th* (good thing im in an early timezone)

When they finally get the chance to retire to a shared room, Shiro bodily sinks against the soft sheets and listens as Keith fills the silence with tales of his two years away. They’d tried just breathing in tandem, but the slight noise hadn’t been enough to distract Shiro from what feels like an escalating anxiety pounding somewhere under his diaphragm.

And so Keith opens his mouth, pulls from his memory banks – and talks. He explains about the wolf, Dog, describes his antics so vividly that Shiro can nearly see the forested backdrop of the leviathan whale and the electric blue flashes as Dog leaps from one point to another, snapping at falling leaves and twigs and little critters. 

He’s curled up in a bundle at the foot of their bed as Keith talks, ears twitching every now and then at the cadences of Keith’s voice.

“I’m glad you had some company during those years, Keith,” Shiro smiles. He could’ve returned to a much different person if those two years had been spent in total isolation, and Shiro is glad for both of them that Keith has now returned safely, mother and wolf in tow.

“Yeah… it was uncomfortable at first, trying to deal with a parent I haven’t seen in two decades or well, ever. But we made it work.” Keith’s wry smile belies their now-close interactions, and Shiro knows that Krolia would do anything to protect her son, and Keith in turn.

“Did you two talk about…”

“Everything?” Keith interrupts, “Yeah, there was a lot… A bit overwhelming, now that I think about it, but everything was overwhelming in that situation.” He laughs shortly, “I think I was numb with it all back then.”

There’s a pause before Keith resumes his storytelling – this time turning to his mother, his first impressions, their days together, the words exchanged.

“I’m just lucky my translator didn’t break down over that time, or it would’ve been rather difficult.” Keith chuckles, thigh shifting against Shiro’s cheek.

He starts talking about the flashbacks then, voice tinged with lost nostalgia from scenes he can’t have organically remembered.

“Oh wow, that’s – that’s…” Shiro trails off, mumbling against the bed in his tiredness. Feels like an invasion of privacy, he wants to say, but Keith deserves these memories, too.

“It felt too fast and too much at first, but now I’m glad it let us have something to talk about.”

“And did she, did she see things from your past, too?” Shiro asks after Keith explains his newfound past with a quiet smile, images forming of a softer, pudgier Keith bundled into his mother’s arms, and the shack a safehouse brimming with _family_. 

“Yeah. She asked a lot of questions about you,” Keith lightly flicks his temple, grinning when Shiro’s eyes go round and embarrassed.

“What did she _see?_ ”

“Oh, nothing incriminating, I’m sure.”

Shiro heaves a sigh. “If you put it like that, Keith, then I’ll be recalling every single incriminating thing we’ve done for days to come.”

“That’s alright – they were good times.”

At that, they fall into a mutual silence, recalling years of old and wondering when they’d begun to long for the past.

“And –” Shiro begins, “What about good times to come? Did you see any?” He asks tentatively, recalling the off-handed comment Keith had made about past and future fusing into the messiest lightshow in the vicinity of those stars.

Keith makes a contemplative noise. “I saw… bits and pieces. Did you know,” he cuts off suddenly, “I saw a glimpse of our fight? I was hoping it wouldn’t come true, until it did.”

“Oh.” Suddenly, Shiro wonders how many other burdens Keith is carrying, how many half-formed memories he’s pushed to the back of his mind. He wonders. He doesn’t want to know.

“I’m sorry,” Keith laughs suddenly, “That was a bit dark, wasn’t it? And as you were asking – yeah, I did see something good. Many somethings…”

“Do I want to know? Feels a bit like we’re cheating time here.”

Keith inhales and exhales a steady rhythm beneath him, until he picks out what must be the most harmless vision to recall. “There was – there was us on a date, Takashi. Somewhere that looked like Earth.”

“That’s – that’s great.”

He knows there’s a lot more Keith isn’t telling him, but at least one thing’s certain – they’ll get their happy ending one day, somewhere under a sun they grew up with and breathing in an atmosphere their lungs so deeply crave. It’s the least Shiro can hope for.

**Author's Note:**

> *madly scrambles to the 14th prompt after posting this*


End file.
